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WIFI in Care Homes

Residents, relatives and employees at The Orders of St. John Care Trust (OSJCT) have been able to readily access the world wide web for some time, thanks to the wi-fi service.

It follows comments made by the Care Minister, Caroline Dinenage, who said not enough homes allowed their residents to access wi-fi.

According to Citizens Advice, one in five care homes do not offer wi-fi to residents, which indicates OSJCT is ahead of the times; 70 out of 72 care homes OSJCT manages offers a wi-fi service for residents, employees and visitors, with plans to rollout wi-fi in the remaining two homes.

“Technology not only has the ability to connect our residents, their families and their communities, but it can also stimulate and trigger reminiscence. At OSJCT, we have installed wi-fi technology to give residents a richer experience, allowing them and our visitors to use the internet to stay connected to friends and family, and give our carers a vast array of options to provide activities and enhanced care for our residents,” OSJCT’s Chief Technology Officer, Rob Collyer, said.

OSJCT Admiral Nurse, Angie Williams, who specialises in care for residents living with dementia says having wi-fi in the care homes not only benefits the visitors, but also enables residents the access to tools to help with dementia care.

“The Trust has been forward in its thinking with providing wi-fi in all of its care homes. We have to move with the times and give families every opportunity that they can to keep in touch with their loved ones once they come to live with us. Not only do we use wi-fi as a communication tool helping to keep families in touch, but many homes use technology as part of the activities by creating life stories and individual music playlists. Having wi-fi has opened so many doors, and quite a few residents have their own iPads or laptops,” Angie said.